is there a wrong way...

To smoke a chunk of meat? Kind of a loaded question I suppose. Its tamale making time in Casa de Crann. Ernestina wants me to smoke the meat this year. I believe she normally just uses a crock pot to slow cook the meat, I think she normally just grabs a roast.
Should we soak it in a brine? Just do a dry rub? Inject with????

I would do it with the same cut she normally uses. Just make sure it is not too lean, you want the fat for moisture. I would also just do a rub. For me when I did mine, pork tamales, I used the same spices that was going to be in the final seasing for the rub. Salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, onion and garlic.

I did some at work with product we had on hand a few months ago. I cut some flank steak into 1" strips across the grain. Hot smoked for 2hrs and then braised to break it down. Worked pretty well. For me I wanted more smoke flavor, others thought it was perfect.

When the Boss does the meat in a crock pot she shreds the meat for the Tamales. She wants to make sure that this is still possible..at what internal temperature should I pull the roast off to see to it that it can be shredded? In what little reading I have done seems like, at least with pork, that a much higher than normal internal temperature is necessary. Is that the case? Here as well??

What cut of meat does she use? If a pork butt/shoulder, then 205F internal temp for pulling/shredding, but poke it first to make sure it is ready (a two pronged fork or a toothpick should easily penetrate), or wiggle the bone. If the bone wants to fall right out, it's ready.

Okay, that narrows it down to the type of animal. If she's using chuck, still 205F. If one of the leaner cuts, someone else will have to give input because I never smoke, roast. or braise those to the shredding stage.

I don't want to sound condescending here but some details are very important to answer questions for you. Pork or Beef? If Beef then Chuck roast or Bottom round or top round or tri tip or????? You are not giving anybody much to go on here man. What type of smoker do you use? Chunk of meat is not a term I have seen at the meat counter. Yes to answer your first question there are many wrong ways to cook meat. The worst of which could make you very sick or dead.

I don't want to sound condescending here but some details are very important to answer questions for you. Pork or Beef? If Beef then Chuck roast or Bottom round or top round or tri tip or????? You are not giving anybody much to go on here man. What type of smoker do you use? Chunk of meat is not a term I have seen at the meat counter. Yes to answer your first question there are many wrong ways to cook meat. The worst of which could make you very sick or dead.

Condescending??? Hardly Sir. I am not a big believer in that whole "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" line of bs. I believe in honesty....and sometime the honest answer is not all warm and fuzzy. Anyway, I am using a Big Green Egg. When I started this thread it was a beef round roast, that is all the label said. The "chunk of beef" that the Boss dry rubbed last night for todays attempt is a beef chuck roast...which is all the label said. Sick or dead....hmmmm.....that does not sound like much fun to me...Thanks for your answer....

This is a great reference put together by one of the members here. I go by the general guidelines on these recipes and adjust seasoning to my taste. Jeff, the owner of this site has a free e-course you can get too. I highly recommend it and you won't regret taking the time to learn the ins and outs of smoking meat. Safety is key and there are a few things you should know to insure you don't give anyone food poisoning. The search feature at the top of the home page is a great tool to find out just about anything you want to know. I have never seen a cooking site with a better search engine. Also the members here a very helpful in answering questions you might have. Just include the details we need to point you in the right direction. Happy smoking. timber

I suggest you use chuck roast for shredding and top or bottom round for slicing. The chuck has a nice even fat content to keep the meat moist. I have never had much luck getting any other beef roast cuts to pull like a chuck does.